Image: Foremost Media.

Australian teenager Charli Cannon has been confirmed to be making her Women’s Motocross World Championship debut in the MXGP of Turkey, the WMX standout joining the JK Racing Yamaha team.

Currently dominating the WMX category in Penrite ProMX and part of the Yamalube Yamaha Racing team, 17-year-old Cannon has been remarkable in her rookie season at a national level.

The Turkish round of the world championship will take place at Afyonkarahisar between 3-4 September, with Cannon to be accompanied by her father and Yamalube Yamaha Racing mechanic Nash Ihle for he highly-anticipated international debut.

“I am beyond thankful to get this chance to race the final round in Turkey and to be a guest on the JK Racing Yamaha team,” Cannon commented. “This year has been so exciting for me and to race MXGP is another highlight that I won’t forget.

“Thank you to everyone involved in making this happen, from Yamaha and the Yamalube Yamaha team, to JK Racing, as well as Motorcycling Australia, who have given female riders a national platform.”

Based on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, Cannon’s only previous international experience comes in the form of a trip to New Zealand when she was a junior.

“I have followed the Women’s GPs and looked up to riders like Courtney Duncan, so to get the chance to ride with Courtney and the other girls on the world stage will be exciting in itself,” she added. “I have watched some of the racing from Turkey in years gone by and can see it’s a hard pack track that looks like a lot of fun to ride and gets quite rutty.

“I really don’t have any expectations of how I will finish but will just do my best, represent Yamaha and the JK Racing team as best I can and enjoy racing at the highest level.”

Cannon has also been lining up in select rounds of the MX2 category this season for added experience and stunned with 13-15 results for 14th overall at Coffs Harbour last weekend – running inside the top 10 for a share of the opening moto.

“Like a lot of the teams in Europe, we follow Australian motocross closely as there is always great talent coming from the land down under,” JK Racing’s Riccardo Boschi said. “Charli is one rider we’ve been watching and her results certainly are impressive, so we were extremely happy to assist her for the Turkey round and allow her to showcase her talent and ability at an international level.

“We can see that she is a hard-working and dedicated young rider and at only 17 has the world at her feet. We are looking forward to meeting Charli and her family in person at Turkey and know she will do her best.”